johnwen

David, Do you by chance have a link to the one you bought? How was the blueberry crop this year? Leaving Ellsworth tomorrow trekkin back to SC :) John

Looking good JD :)

Congrats JD! I know you like a challenge :) I'm sure you know from your experiences, but I'll mention the obvious... follow the torque specs at Alcan's suggested mileages, for u bolts and springs both. I even added an 800 mile interval (found 2 nuts needing a slight tightening) and 1200 where all was good. BTW...my mini is up and running :) Thanks for your help and putting up with my phone call :) @dhaig was also kind enough to endure one of my calls. Your new brakes will need a self adjusting period (if you got the self adjusting ones). I drove off the lot and had very little brakes with the setting maxed out at 10. Went back and they said a breaking in period was all that was needed. I went forward and backward a few times in their parking lot and they adjusted to a point I felt comfortable so off we went. They adjusted themselves just fine by the end of the day. Done in February and all is fine except 1 of the wheel lug bolts snapped off but Alcan fixed on a later stop through for free and I had them reverse all the spring wet bolts and realigned (a few zerks didn't want to accept lube). And they did that for free as well since I didn't need any new parts. Those wet bolts took some time and I was quite surprised to hear "no charge" for that.... best customer service I've seen in many, many years. And now Wendy has a new batt operated greaser to make lubing a little easier as I crawl under and manage the zerks. Have fun with those "10 days off"! I also followed @ScubaRx's advice by marking the wet bolts and fame with a drift punch and painting the marks so I can see any movement from the original positions. John

You guys and your big trucks............................

Don, One of those wires on the switch side of the junction then goes to the 12VDC auxiliary power outlet (cigarette lighter type) to connect to the future router?

Thanks, Don, That gets me goin' :)

Steve, I understand you connected 1 long 14 ga wire between 1 red wire on the lighted switch to an empty slot on the trailer's fuse block and one short wire (since we mounted it close to the switch) to the POE pwr input? Is there more than 1 wire connected at the fuse block for this project? I will probably get the router mini at some point in the future. It looks like Don put the cigarette lighter connection into the circuit for the purpose of powering the router, and I'm guessing that taps into the circuit between the lighted switch and the POE injector in order to turn off everything. John

Thanks, Don, I have the Rj46 pass though, lighted wall switch and POE injector mounted and have the backside of the passthrough connected to the POE injector. I'm going to attempt wiring everything together today. I am easily intimidated with wiring things up and wish I had a simple diagram to follow showing connections, but I think I understand enough to keep myself out of trouble...big ha ha! I don't have a second router yet (probably will be a router mini) but I'll wire it in later. Wish me lots of luck :) John

David, I just ordered the kit because it comes with a tripod mount that I hope can be used by my Benro tripod. John

Thanks Steve, Seems logical...where did you tap into power on the fuse box? I'm about to start this project now that my solar panel issues are resolved. John

Don, Do you see any problems with mounting the POE injector on the basement wall where you put the lighted rocker switch? My wall is between 5/8 and 3/4 inches thick. Thanks, John

More like plexiglass :(

Totally....good to hear :)

Steve, I never did get dsl back in the day...only 28.8 (sometimes). That finally changed when we started full timing in '20. I would have gladly paid an arm or leg for dsl. If I get dsl speed from StarLink it would probably be enough for us :)

According to (sometimes incorrect) chatgt there will be no more free pause option, now a pause for $5 per month will give you unlimited low speed data. But...if that a good enough connection for me then $5 per month is a pretty good option over $165, but not so good if I don't need any service. I doubt they will allow streaming, IMO, but I'll still be obliged to give up $5/mo for slower data transfer. John

Don, The reason I asked was we are only 6 numbers apart on our hull #'s so the same person probably worked on our Progressive surge protector box but mine is either upside down or the cover had been taken off for maintenance and reinstalled upside down...makes it a little easier to read from the top :) Makes no difference either way but since there is that difference I'm wondering if there is anything else different down there. You mentioned "hard rubber frame covering" but that area, in mine, appears to be the top of the gray water tank and before I investigated I was planning to possibly drill in that area to attach. I'll probably find another location since there seems to plenty of possibilities. Our mini is working very well and definitely recommend as others do. Out POE injector/converter is on the way...yay! I'll tackle this project soon. Ditto on the couplers. Thanks much, John

Don, I'll be tackling this project this weekend. Did you attach with glue?

Yes, on the Ollie.

Don, What type and length cable did you use between the trailer and the mini? John

2 years ago on our way back from Glacier we traveled the Million Dollar Highway in our 2019 1/2 ton Silverado, 8 cylinder 5.3 L, 8 speed automatic, with tow package. A couple of stretches had me gear down to 2nd gear at 30mph to keep engine below 4000 rpm. As we are full timers we were just below 7000 lbs on the trailer and about 100 lbs below max weight for the truck. Didn't mind going uphill, but downhill we still needed the brakes more than I would have liked. It was a beautiful drive but once is enough. With 140,000 miles on the truck now I don't need to push my luck. Back then we probably had 80,000 miles on the truck. BTW we had our 1 and only flat tire on that highway and we didn't even know it. Another motorist tried to get us to pull over for several miles. I finally found a place to pull over and sure enough the tire was shredded...luckily no damage other than needing a new tire and rim. The next week I installed a TPMS.

The mini is up and running with what came in the box (thanks JD). Will run this way for a while and find the best way to operate on DC only with minimal cabling. Wendy is very happy . And thanks, Geoff (and all) for the encouragement. I think I'm going to like going with the mini! John

All makes sense.... sounds like a deal closer :) Thanks, John John

Hey John, So I can use the supplied 50ft cable and the supplied power adapter connected to my A/C with my inverter and all will work well? I suppose I can also connect to my 1000wh Anker Solix solar generator/battery as well... it also supplies A/C with its internal inverter. I can at least get up and running and figure all the power options at a later date. John

I visited DISHYtech youtube and see it's an SL product :) $40 So, it looks like I should run 1 powered cable out to the mini (using the 50ft provided cable) and one (not provided) from the mini back into the trailer.

Geoff, I appreciate all the time you ( and all ) have taken to help me with my decision. I'll read the rest of your posts today and tomorrow I'll be at the Bozeman BestBuy spending my money :) I think the way for me is the mini. We're not power users...just like to watch a few movies now and then. Most of our use comes through our Verizon data plans, usually at 2 or 3 bars, sometimes 1 :( I'm sure SL will outperform if not too many obstacles. I am interested in using the full length of cord to reach open areas and boost the signal if too far away. Are those Mini Mesh Node Routers generic or specific to the SL? And since much time is spent boondocking we want to use DC when we can. Thanks, John